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Judge King said, "An individual, minor or not, that goes down into the French Quarter must be aware of what takes place during Mardi Gras. This is a well-publicized event that I think anyone local, and even those outside Louisiana, would know what to expect. It seems to me that there was consent. It appears that they were consenting to this type of behavior. They were consenting to the video and/or photographs that were taking place. It seems they were pretty willing. Certainly, as relates to a cause of action, they did not expect this to be a private matter. Because when you do it [expose your body] on Bourbon Street or in a club and you know there is an individual with a video, certainly you must expect that this is going to be shown all over the place."
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There is no question, you can shoot photos and videos of people in the French Quarter, Bourbon Street or any other public place and post them to the Internet or show them on the TV news. As long as it's a public place, they are on public property and you are on public property, no problem. That is well established in law.
You can actually stand on the street, take a photo of someone in their house, and use it on the TV news. That is an editorial use of the image and is perfectly legal. Lots of legal precedent.
The difference here is selling the image. As soon as you introduce commerce into the equation, the editorial defense is gone (at least provided there is not a newsworthy element). The fact is, selling someone's image to a buyer, and that buyer selling it to a customer, on the 'net or a magazine for an ad for perfume, or anything else is simply not legal.
I'm not sure what case the judge in Louisiana was ruling on, but even if it was exactly the situation I just described...that would only apply in Louisiana. So, if you're selling the photo to someone in Louisiana, and they are only going to use it in Louisiana, and it was only viewed by people in Louisiana, they you might have a defense.
And even then, it is reasonable to say that people all over the world are likely to see the photo...but it is not reasonable to say that the person taking the photo is selling it to someone who is going to resell it.
That is a prescription for a very successful lawsuit.
Don't get me wrong, I love Mardi Gras and taking shots of the people there. But I also don't want to see anyone on this board get sued.
Brutal
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